Alton Pancras, Dorset
Historical Description
Alton-Pancras or Alton St Pancras, a parish in Dorset. It lies in a fertile and well-wooded valley under the downs, 2½ miles NE of Cerne-Abbas, and 9 from Dorchester on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. Post town, Cerne under Dorchester. Acreage, 2280; population, 229. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £200. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury. the church has been rebuilt.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Dorsetshire | |
| Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
| Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Alton-Pancras St. Pancratius | |
| Liberty | Alton Pancras | |
| Poor Law union | Cerne | 1835 - |
| Registration district | Dorchester | |
| Registration sub-district | Cerne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1673. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Alton Pancras, 1674-1812 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. Pancras (parish church)
The parish church of St Pancras, rebuilt in 1875 from the designs of Mr. Crickmay, of Weymouth, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, north porch, and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 4 bells: there are 150 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Alton Pancras was in Cerne Registration District from 1837 to 1838, Dorchester Registration District from 1838 to 1949, and Weymouth Registration District from 1949 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Alton Pancras from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Alton-Pancras (St. Pancratius))
- Hunt & Co.'s Directory of Dorsetshire, Hampshire, & Wiltshire 1851
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Alton Pancras are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the Dorset County Chronicle and the Sherborne Mercury online.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.